This section introduces aspects that may help facilitate a better understanding of the inventions. Accordingly, the statements of this section are to be read in this light and are not to be understood as admissions about what is prior art or what is not prior art.
In recent years, there has been a rapid growth of smart mobile devices (i.e. smart-phones) that among other things, allow the users to browse the web and watch video clips. These new capabilities open up a new and untapped market with sizable revenue opportunities for various stakeholders by enabling rich multimedia content delivery to mobile users. Today, the vast majority of the smart-phones are equipped with Wi-Fi and cellular radios, and both interfaces can be used for content delivery. However, using existing technologies, rich multimedia content such as video streams cannot be provided in crowded areas due to the high bandwidth requirements of delivering such content and the shortage of wireless resources in both the cellular and the Wi-Fi networks.
Thus, new solutions and techniques that are able to address these issues and support rich multimedia content delivery in crowded areas would meet a need and advance wireless communications generally.
Specific embodiments of the present invention are disclosed below with reference to FIGS. 1-4. Both the description and the illustrations have been drafted with the intent to enhance understanding. For example, the dimensions of some of the figure elements may be exaggerated relative to other elements, and well-known elements that are beneficial or even necessary to a commercially successful implementation may not be depicted so that a less obstructed and a more clear presentation of embodiments may be achieved. In addition, although the logic flow diagrams above are described and shown with reference to specific steps performed in a specific order, some of these steps may be omitted or some of these steps may be combined, sub-divided, or reordered without departing from the scope of the claims. Thus, unless specifically indicated, the order and grouping of steps is not a limitation of other embodiments that may lie within the scope of the claims.
Simplicity and clarity in both illustration and description are sought to effectively enable a person of skill in the art to make, use, and best practice the present invention in view of what is already known in the art. One of skill in the art will appreciate that various modifications and changes may be made to the specific embodiments described below without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Thus, the specification and drawings are to be regarded as illustrative and exemplary rather than restrictive or all-encompassing, and all such modifications to the specific embodiments described below are intended to be included within the scope of the present invention.